Who is better, Saive or Ma Long?
Ma Long leads with a GOAT score of 97.3 against 85.0 for Jean-Michel Saive — a gap of 12.3 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
AthletesTeams
Saive vs Ma Long
Shareable comparison — send this exact matchup to anyone.
Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Ma Long above Jean-Michel Saive: 97.3 vs 85.0. Ma Long leads on Dominance, Honours, Statistics. Jean-Michel Saive leads on Longevity.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
Ma LongWinner
97.3Ma Long wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours, Statistics
Saive
85.0Saive wins: Longevity
Candidates
Locked to Table TennisShareable URL · /compare/jean-michel-saive-vs-ma-long
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇨🇳 Ma Long
97.3
Ma Long leads in 4 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Ma Long
2. Jean-Michel Saive
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Through age 21 · Form index per season
1. 🇨🇳 Ma Long7 titles
2 seasons by age 21 · 3.5 per season
Setting the pace at age 21
No verified birth date for Saive — shown in the pro-debut view instead.
Every career is cut at the season the athlete turned 21, so a rookie today is measured against exactly what a legend had banked by the same birthday.
| Metric | SaiveRetired | Ma LongActive |
|---|---|---|
| World Championship medals | 1 | — |
| European titles | 2 | — |
| Weeks at world number one | 20 | — |
| Olympic Games contested | 7 | — |
| Years at the top level | 29 | — |
| Olympic golds | — | 6 |
| World singles titles | — | 3 |
| World Cup titles | — | 3 |
| Olympic medals | — | 6 |
| Months at world No. 1 | — | 64 |
| Grand Slam completed | — | 1 |
| Dominance w25% | 78 | 99 |
| Peak w20% | 90 | 99 |
| Longevity w20% | 94 | 92 |
| Honours w20% | 82 | 99 |
| Statistics w15% | 82 | 97 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Ma Long97.3
Saive85.0
FAQ
Where does Saive beat Ma Long?
Saive scores higher on longevity. Ma Long leads on peak, dominance, honours, statistics.
How is the Saive vs Ma Long score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Saive: 85.0, Ma Long: 97.3.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Saive vs Ma Long. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.